Means for regulating electric-lamp circuits.



'H. LEITNHR.

MEANS FOR REGULATING ELECTRIC LAMP cmcurrs.

, Patented June 16,1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

mall-91mm H. LBITNER.

MEANS FOR REGULATING ELECTRIC LAMP CIRCUITS.

Patented June 16, 1914.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 1912.

3 SHEETSr-SHEET 2.

H. LEITNER.

MEANS FOR REGULATING ELECTRIC LAMP CIRCUITS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11, 1912.

Patented June 16, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. 1

. following is a specification. I

to electric regu- HENRY 'LEITNER, or LONDOK, ENGLAND.

MEANS r03 BEGULATING ELECTRIC-LAMP oracurrrs.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 11, 1912. Serial No. 69Q,053. 1

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY LErrNER, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 7 'Princes street, Westminster, London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Means for Regulating Electric-Lamp Circuits, of which the The invention relates lat-ors and the like. chiefly of the auto-matlc type, such as are described in the specifica- I tion of my British Patents Nos. 21,145 and 25,784 of 1904 and 6,690 of 1906, applied to lamp or other circuits of the kind wherein a dynamo is arranged in conjunction with a battery of accumulators, and is specially applicable to a mixed system of electric lighting, such as is commonly used for train lighting and the like, wherein both the battery and the dynamo provide current for the electric lamps fed by the system. Such a regulator as described in the'said specifi-- cations consists of a rheostat designedto introduce resistance into the lighting or other circuit (which I will hereafter refer toin general as the lamp circuit) in order to compensate for variations in the voltage of the battery so that the voltage across the lamps is maintained approximately constant. The rheostat. resistances are introduced into," and withdrawn from, the lamp circuit by means of a rheostat arm which is moved over resistance contacts by an electro-motor controlled by a voltmeter-control or balance in parallel with the'lamps. I

The voltmeter-control is provided with a I ters refer to the same or corresponding two electric contacts which are so arranged in the circuit of the electro-motor that when one of them is connected the motor will work in one d rection of rotation, and when 3 the other is connected the motor will work in, the other direction, and the rheostat arm rection or the other.

(18 so arranged as to have a neutral position.

will have a corresponding motion in one di- The voltmeter control in which neither contact is connected, and

position of a lamp'in the lamp circuit, will maintain this neutral position so long as the voltage of the lamp circuit is maintained at its normal value. Should this voltage, however, rise above the normal the voltmeter control will respond and the motor andfrheostat arm will, be. operated so as to insert re-. sistance in ser es with the lamp circuit. If;

5 lamp circuit accumulators,

' regulator.

1 the dynamo, bank of lamps.

movable rheostat arm. f-is the 'The rotation of the motor g in either now the voltage again falls, resistance will be cut out. That'end ofthe rheostat at which the position of the traveling arm will be such that the whole of the resistance is. inserted in the lamp circuit, I term the high end of the regulator, and that end at which all the resistance-is cut out, I -term the low end.

My present invention relates to/some additions and improvements in this regulator,

and it provides that when the lamps are switched off the traveling armshall under normal conditions travel up to the high.- end, and therefore, when the lamps are next Patented June 16, 1914;. I

switched on, the whole ofthe rheostat resistance will be in circuit and there will be no possibility of the lamps being over-volted if by any reason the voltage of the dynamo and batteries is above the normal.

My invention further provides that the regulator. may act as a battery over-dis charge preventer, and for this purpose, I

provide certain devices at the low end of the regulator, as hereinafter described.

To enable my invention to be fully under- I stood, I will describe it by' reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view ofa supplied" from a dynamo and and provided with regulating means according to my invention. Figs. 2 and-3 are similar views embodying some -modi fications', and Figs. 4 and 5 are an elevation and a longitudinal section respectively of a detail. drawn to a larger scale. In these drawings, in which the same letparts in all the figures, the regulator is shown in a straight 'bar form, but the con trivances described and illustrated are equally applicable to a circular form of cal ly connected to the rheostat arm e by means of gearing.

In this instance I have e mounted on a rack bar inion e' which is connected by a belt or chain e 'w'ith the armature of the motor 9', as indicated infthe drawing.

shown the arm rection and'the consequent travel ingone d51- held closed by springs 72?. Zis another trigger. switch also normally held closed by a spring Z of similar construction to the switches it, h which breaks the voltmeter circuit and consequently causes the breaking of the motor circuit at the high end of the rheostat, that is to say, at that end at which all the rheostat resistance has been inserted in the lamp circuit. The switch Z is operated by the arm 6 preferably a little before the arm operates the switch 71 i is the main lamp switch having the contact k for the lamp circuit, and the auxiliary contacts we, m which are in parallel with the contacts of the trigger-switch Z, and which short-circuits them, and, therefore, restores the voltmeter circuit when the lamp switch 71 is closed.

At-the low end of the rheostat (i. 0., at that end at which all the rheostat resistance has been cut out of the lamp circuit) the voltmeter circuit may also be broken by suitable means here shown as a gap 0 in the contact-rail p of the rheostat. A similar gap 9 in the contact-rail 9* which feeds the lamp circuit serves to break this latter circuit when the arm 6 passes beyond itonthe low side, or this break may also be efiected by means of a switch operated by the arm e s is the retrogressive resistance or resistances which is or are normally in circuit with the voltmeter when the latter is energized through the arm e and the slide-rail u, but which is or are cut out of circuit as the arm epasses over in the low direction. \Vhen. however, the arm reaches the sliderail u this resistance or these resistances is or are again inserted. An additional resistance I? may also in some cases be introduced.

1) is a-contact connected with the release wire of an electro-magnetic distance switch dynamo switch 1;.

operating in the lamp circuit, and in Fig. 1 is merely additional or supplementary to the break 9' in the lamp circuit on the slide-rail r already mentioned.

w is an auxiliary wire which is connected at one end with the extreme end 72 of the slide-rail p, and at the other end with a contact 00 on the automatic cut-in and cut-out ,z is a hand-witch or push which may also be employed to connect the auxiliary wire 10 with the battery 6. The auxiliary wire w may, be extended to other regulators so as to operate them simultaneously.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows :\Vhen the lamp switch 2' is put in the off position, the diminished load will cause the voltage of the circuit to rise, and the voltmeter-control 7' will be actuated so as to make a contact for the motor 9 on the high side, namely at the contact a. The arm 6 will then travel up the scale, and on reaching the switch Z this will be opened and the voltmeter-control circuit broken. The switch k may or may not be operated by the arm 6 after the switch Z is operated. The switch h is provided as a precautionary measure, as the arm 6 travels a short distance after the motor circuit has been broken, which may be sufiicient in some instances to bring it into contact with the arm of the switch it and for the reason that if the voltage of the supply circuit should rise abnormally when the switch 6 is closed, the switch Z would be short-circuited and the arm 6 would then tend to move to the right and would engage and operate the switch I! and break the motor circuit, which otherwise would not be broken under those circumstances. If now the lamps are again switched on by the main lamp switch 2', the contacts m, m will also be closed, and thereby the break in the voltmeter-control circuit, caused by the opening of the switch Z, will be short-circuited, and the voltmeter-control f will operate in conjunction with the motor g, to accommodate the arm a on the resistance (Z to the normal voltage of the lamp circuit.

lVhen the dynamo a is not in operation the lighting current will be" taken wholly from the accumulators b, and as these latter are gradually discharged the voltage of the cir cuit will fall. The voltmeter-control however, is adjusted to a certain predetermined voltage, and if the lamp circuit falls below this standard voltage the voltmeter will make a circuit for the motor 9 at the contact a and will cause the rheostat arm (2 to travel toward the low end, thereby cutting out resistance-from the lamp circuit and raising the voltage of the same to the standard value. This action will go on until there is no longer any resistance left to cut out of the lamp circuit. As it may not be advisable, however, to break the lamp circuit until the voltage has fallen to a still lower value, 1 provide that at this point the resistance or resistances s in the voltmeter circuit shall now be cut out gradually, thus placing the calibration of the voltmeter-control on a lower scale. \Vhen all the resistance or re sistances 8, however, has or have been cut out, the voltmeter will make the contact n and will be unable to recover itself by any further adjustment of resistances on the rheostat, with the consequence that the motor 9 continue to. operate the arm ash as to cause, it to travel to the extreme low end of the rheostat', where. it will finally .be

brought .to rest by the opening of the trigger.- switch h and the consequent breaking of the motor circuit.- The arm e now be in the position shownvbythe dottedlines, and it will readily be seen that in this pos ition the voltmeter circuit is broken at the gap 0 because the voltmeter derives its current from the slide-rail throughthe arm 6 and the slide-rail u. he lam' circuit is'also broken at the gap in the sli e-railr. v The. opening of the lamp circuit at the gap g in the. s'lide-railm, orbyth'eoperation-of a magnetorelectric switch through the cdntact 4;,will cause a rise in the volta e of the accumulators, and in order that t is rise may not affect the voltmeter-control f so as to en- 2h bring back the rheostat .arm, it is necessary that a resistance should be inserted in the voltmeter-control circuit when, or immedi- I ately before, the lamp circuit is broken. lhis is vreadily effected by arrangingthe circuit I as shown in Big; 1, where it will be seenthat when the arm e has cut out all the retrogressiveresistance or resistances s, and has reached the bar u, the resistance or resist- 3'0 ances s are again inserted in the. voltmeter circuit. The: voltmeter circuit. being new broken, and the lam circuit being also broken at the "ap q, in ependently of the main lamp switc 41, which mayhave been inadvertently' left in the on position, it is ob;

-vious that the rheostatarine must be again I brought forward, .or-ma'de to .travel some distance toward the .high end of therheostat before thenormal working conditions 40 arerestored, One very simple .way of doing this .is to provide a push-button or. its equivalent a, which can temporarily short-circuit the break 0 the slide-rail pfand thus energiz e the voltmeter through-the arm 6 ,and

. the accumulators had in the; meantime been recharged, so thattheir voltage was again normal, thenthe closingv of the voltmeter. circuit by means of thepu sh' 2 would cause the control-balance j to make, contactbn the high side at-nand would thus energize the motor in the direction of rotation to cause the rheostat arm e to travel'up the scale toward the fhigh end.

arm e would be adjusted by thG VOltlIlgtQtcontrol .to the normal or standard voltage of the 1am circuit, but if the lampswitch i was inthe off position, and' the voltage of the 60. accumulators was'higher than that of the broken the switch Z, and the motor ergize the motor on'the high side and thus the slide-rail uh If, under these conditions,

' v If the Ina-in lamp i5 switch 11 were nowin the on, position the circuit byv the switch h It is possible, however, that the. accumulators may not have been recharged, but are still at their abnormally low discharge voltage, and it, therefore, becomes necessary to provide means whereby their further discharge is rendered impossible by the restoration of the lamp circuit. I Y Y With the arrangement of apparatus already described this will be automatically insured in the following manner. voltage of the accumulators is no higher than that at which they were left when the rheostat.ar1n had traveled to the extreme low end of the scale, the voltmeter-control will be unable to'respond when energized by the operation of the push 2, and the arm e will consequently remain at the low end'. But, if, as will generally be the case, there has been a rise in the voltage of the accumulators due to their opencircuit, the operation of the push 2 will cause a movement of 'the'arm e for a certain distance, .but only a temporary and partial movement, since so soon ascurrent is again taken by the lamps the voltage will quickly fall, and the arm e return to the low position. It is, there- If the normal working position by means of a hand push or simllar device, I may do so automatically as soon as the dynamo commences to work. This is accomplished in the following manner. In connection with the; usual automatic cut-in and cut-out device or switch 3 which is placed between the dynamo and the accumulators, I provide an additional contact an, and this contact servesto connect an auxiliary wire w with the main circuit of the battery. At the other end this auxiliary wire w is connected 'tothe slide-rail p at the low end of the rheost at, and on which the arm 6 rests when in the low position. As soon, therefore, as the auxiliary wire w is energized through the contacts: by the cutting in of the automatic switch y, a current can pass through the auxiliary wire'w through the arm e and the slide-railul to the voltmeter, which, being now energized by the higher voltage of the dynamo will make contact for the motor onthe high side at n, and will thus bring the, rheos'tat arm back to its normal position. i lln any system in which the parallel working of two or more dynamos' and sets of accumulators is employed, or in which two or more lampcircuits, each controlled by its nown regulator ,'a1ie linkedin parallel circuit, as .is shown for exam 'le in the specification of Britishfatentj 0. 27,396 of 1910,

an extension of the auxiliary, wire w may be A down motion of the rheostat arm the lamp circuit should be broken after the voltmeter circuit, while on the upward motion taking place the voltmeter circuit and the contact of the arm 6 with the slide-rail p shonld'be established before the lamp circuit is established on the slide-rail r. This will prevent any possiblity of a lamp current passing through the auxiliary wire w or the push 2 and through the arm am the slide rail 1* when the arm 6 moves forward, and before the gaps 0 and 9 have been entirely passed.

In order to insure that the lamp circuit on the slide-rail r may thus be broken last and also established last, I provide that the -1 arm 6 shall be furnished at that portion which passes on the slide-rail 1 with a contact piece having'afismall amount of play or drag in the direction of the motion of the arm. This is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 where 0 c 0 represent the contact-pieces in the underside of the arm. the contact 0 bearing upon the slide-rail r and being allowed to have slight play transversely across the arm 0 in the direction of the,

arrow Fig. 4. Thus in whichever direction the arm is moving the contactpiece Q will be slightly behind thecenter of the arm.

Figs. 2 and illustrate modifications of the arrangement shown in Fig. l-in which the auxiliary wire w is dispensed with, and use is made ofan electromagnetic release main lamp switch. In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2 when the arme travels down to the "low end of the rheostat as previously de- "scribed with reference to Fig. 1, it operates the switch r, thereby making a temporary contact for the release .circuit of the electromagnetic switch 2', of which-2' is the release coil or solenoid. as is well understood. The voltmeter circuit is broken at the gap '0 as previously described. and under these conditions the arm 0 will remain at the low end of the rheostat. In order to restore the arm a to its normal working position when the lamps are-switched on, I provide two auxiliary contacts and'7c on the main lamp' witch, which contacts are closed when the main switch is closed, and which then Form a short circuit across the'gap 0 wher the voltmeter .cireuitis. broken.

\Vith this construction, and if the accumulators have meanwhile been recharged so as to recover their normal voltage, the arm 6 will move forward into itsv normal position, but ifthe accumulators are still discharged the voltmeter-control will be unable to operate so as to eifect this result, or will only operate for a very short time, and the arm 6, if brought forward at all, will quickly fall back, and in doing so will again operate the release switch 12 and put the main lamp switch 11 in the off position.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 it is not intended that the arm 6 shall remain at the low end of the rheostat, but that in every case it shall be brought up to the high end, and the voltmeter circuit broken there by means of the switch Z. This is provided for in the following manner. 2 is, as in Fig. 2, an electro-magnetic release switch which is operated through the contact or switch '0 when the arm 6 reaches the low end of the rheostat. Z0, Z9 are the auxiliary contacts which are closed when the switch 71 is in the off position, and these contacts serve to short-c1rcuit the retrogressive resistance or resistances s. The slight recovery of voltage of the accumulator due to the open lamp circuit will now be sufiicient, with the resistance or resistances 8 cut out of the voltmeter circuit, to energize the voltmeter on the high side and complete the motor circuit at n, whereby the arm 6 will commence to travel up the rheostat toward the high end, where it will finally break ,the voltmeter circuit at the switch Z, and the motor circuit at the switch ii In this arrangement, as in those shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the voltmeter circuit, when broken by the switch 1, is restored when the lamps are switched on, by means of the aux iliary contacts m, m which are in parallel with the switch Z, and which therefore short circuit the break when closed by the switch 1'.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be per-.v

formed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm," a voltmeter control device for said motor, of automatically operable means for breaking and restoring both the lamp circuit and the voltmeter control circuit.

2. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a' movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in. and out by said arm, av motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control device for said motor, of meansoperatively controlled by the rheostat arm for breaking and restoring the voltmeter control circuit when the rheostat arm has been moved into position to cutin substantially all the said series of resistances.

i normally closed switch in series with the voltmeter control and having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat arm after 1t has cut out all resistance from the lamp circuit, to open said switch.

4. In an electric system, the, combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm,*a motor 'for operating said'arm, a volts meter control device for said motor, of a normally closed switch in series with the voltmeter control and having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat arm after ithas cut out all resistance from the lamp circuit, contacts in parallel with said switch for short-circuiting the same, and a lamp circuit switch adapted to connect saidcontacts when in closed position.

5. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut, in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a volt meter control device for said -motor, of

means operativelycontrolled by the rheostat arm for breaking and restoring both the lamp circuit and the voltmeter control circuit when the rheostat arm is in position to cut out substantially all of said series of resistances. i

6. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery'of accumulatOI'S,3, dynamo, a rheostat having-a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lam p circuit adapted'to be .cut, inand out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control device for said motor, of a resistance in series with the voltmeter control, adapted to be cutout of circuit as the rheostat armtravels toward the end of the rheostat at which said series of resistances are cut out, to change the calibration of the .voltmeter control.

7. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a batteryotaccumula-i tors, a dynamo, a'rheostat having a movable" arm, a series of resistances in the lamp'circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a volt meter control device for said motor, of an auxiliary resistance in series with the voltmeter control, means for cutting out said resistance. when the rheostat-arm has traveled a certain distance. toward the end of the rheostat at which said series of resistances are cut out, and means for thereafter cutting in said auxiliary resistance into the voltmeter control circuit by the further travel of the rheostat arm.

8. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control device for said motor,- of a resistance in the voltmeter control circuit for changing the calibration of the voltmeter control, means operable by the rheostat arm for cutting out said calibrated resistance, and a normally closed switch in series with the voltmeter control having a partadaptedto be operated by the rheostat arm for breaking the voltmeter control circuit after the resistance has been cut out of the lamp circuit, and said calibrating resistance has been cut out.

9. In an electric system,-the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of -accumulators, a dynamo, arheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut, in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control devlce for said motor, of a normally closed switch in the lamp circuit and-having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat-arm for breaking the lamp circuit when thevoltage has fallen to a predetermined limit.

10. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumuliators, a dynamo, a rheostat having .a

movable arm, a series 0t resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control device for said motor, of a normally closed switch in series with the voltmeter control having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat arm for. opening said switch after the rheostat arm has out out all the resistance from the lamp circuit, and auxiliary means for restoringthe voltmeter control circuit when so broken, independent of said switch.

11. In an electric system, thecombination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a serles of reslstances 1n the lamp voltmeter control circuit, independent of said switch. a .12. In an electric svstem. the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control device for said motor, of an electro-magnetic switch in the'lamp circuit, a circuit therefor, and a switch in said circuit for controlling the electromagnetic switch and having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat arm, whereby the electro-magnetic switch is energized and the lamp circuit broken, when the voltage of the lamp circuit has fallen to a pre vdetermined limit.

13. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a

' voltmeter control .device for said motor, of

a normally closed switch for breaking the voltmeter control circuit located adjacent to the end of the rheostat at which all of said series of resistances are cut in and having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat arm, an electro-magnetic switch in the lamp 'circuit,-a circuit therefor, a switch for controlling said circuit having a part adapted to be operated by the rheostat, auxiliary contacts in operative relation with the electromagnetic switch, a circuit for said contacts, for short-circuiting the switch in the voltmeter control circuit, and means operated by the electro-magnetic switch for closing the circuit through said contacts.

14. In an electric system, the combination with a lamp circuit, a battery of accumulators, a dynamo, a rheostat having a movable arm, a series of resistances in the lamp circuit adapted to be cut in and out by said arm, a motor for operating said arm, a voltmeter control device for said motor, of a plurality of contacts adapted to be engaged by the rheostat arm, a fixed contact portion on the rheostat arm for engaging one or.

more of said contacts, a selfadjusting contact movably connected to the rheostat arm and provided with a limited amount of lost motion with respect thereto, whereby when the rheostat arm reverses its direction of movement, the said self-adjusting contact will change its position with respect to the fixed contact portions of the rheostat arm.

HENRY LEITNER.

\Vitnesses JOHN E. BOUSFIELD, C. G. REDFERN. 

